He Disobeyed My Orders
by MsDaHedgehog
Summary: ONE SHOT set during the Anslo Garrick fiasco. Coopers thoughts and feelings. Mainly focusing on Keen and Ressler, concluding after Ressler gives over the code. Please review!


**_A/N: I no idea whether this is deemed a good fanfic but the idea popped into my head last night and I wanted to write something focused on Harold. I thought it was a good idea at the time but please let me know what you think?_**

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Assistant Director Harold Cooper was never one to let personal feelings get in the way of doing his job and he expected nothing less from the agents on his task force. There had been a few cases over the recent months where personal feelings had been called into question and become semi problematic, but at the end of the day, the head had overruled the heart so to speak. Harold had never truly had to worry about decisions being made based on feelings, never once until Agent Keen had started working at the blacksite. As hard as it had been to trust her and her judgement at the beginning, he had grown quite fond of Elizabeth Keen. She may have only been a profiler with limit field experience but she had more than proved to him and her fellow colleagues that she is more than capable of being a damn good field agent.

Standing in his position now, he thought back over the last few months. All his agents knew to leave their emotions at the door before embarking on a case. Keen, for some reason, was not able to do that half the time. Whether this is because of her lack of experience in the field or not he wasn't sure. Elizabeth Keen's actions had been called upon more than once because her emotions had got the better of her and clouded her judgement. Nevertheless, those emotions had created a determination he had get to find in another agent… well, except Donald Ressler. In certain ways, Agents Keen and Ressler made the perfect team, even if they did disagree majority of the time on how to proceed with a case. Their partnership had been reluctant and intensely strained at the beginning. Ressler hadn't trusted Keen and she hadn't exactly made it easy on herself when it came too gaining her partners trust. However, Harold had watched the two closely over the few months they worked together, each accepting and trusting the other as the weeks went by. However much Harold now liked the younger profiler, her worst quality will forever keep him from respecting her completely.

Elizabeth Keen had a severe inability to arrive to work on time of a morning. No matter how often Ressler berated her for being late, she still came in later than she should. At the moment though, after a personal request from Ressler, Harold had been forced to cut the young agent some slack while she was grieving after the death of her father. He had given her a few days off to arrange and attend the funeral and she was supposed to have returned today. Harold had not been happy. He understood that she was still upset but she needed to snap back into being an agent but no, her emotions had got in the way and once again she was late to work.

Never had Harold been glad of Keen's tardiness, never, until today.

Upon realising that Reddington had been right and they had been set up to be infiltrated, he had acted instantly, ordering everyone who wasn't needed to evacuate the building and demanding his strongest follow him to the armoury – he wouldn't risk the lives of anyone when it wasn't necessary for them to stay in the building. Parting way with Ressler, who was to transport Reddington to the 'box', he couldn't help but be grateful that Keen hadn't made it in. She may have been some tough situations, he knew full well she had never been through something like this before and he wasn't sure if her basic field experience would have been enough to keep her alive. No sooner had he barked orders into his radio, Keen's somewhat calm voice had responded.

He couldn't remember all of what was said but his dread when she told him she was inside the building and quickly turned to relief when she assured him she wasn't captured or injured. He could tell that she was conflicted on what to do when he informed her that Ressler and Reddington were presumed down. She and Aram may be the only people left able to call for help, and now was the time for Keen to prove to him that she was just as capable to be in the field as the others.

"OPEN THE BOX!"

Harold snapped back to reality as Garrick English Accent vibrated around the open space. He stared at Agent Ressler, in his partially conscious state, bleeding out onto the floor in the 'box', Reddington battling to save the agents life. Harold knew that without immediate medical attention, Ressler would die, but it was his duty not to give up the code however much it was torturing him inside as he was forced to watch Reddington fighting to keep Ressler alive. It was part of the job and he was starting to hate it, he had to admit not, that he had never been in a situation as severe as this before. Nothing had been heard of from Keen or Aram for a while now and they weren't being forced to stand in here with them now so he couldn't help but think the worse, think that they were dead.

Reddington had been begging him for the code, not only for Resslers but for Luli, a personal friend of the criminal, life as well. Harold flinched as Luli's lifeless body hit the floor and his eyes met Reddingtons. Harold would never be forgiven for allowing the woman to die but he knew that Reddington also knew that Harold wouldn't give up that code for anyone. Harold watched as Dembe was pulled in front of Red and he too had the gun pointing into his skull. He watched as Reds face was contorted with pain of the thought of losing another friend but Harold would not let personal feelings overrule his position as Assistant Director. When the shot rang out, Harold had to close his eyes for fear of seeing another body fall. He couldn't let the sorrow he felt show.

"Go." Garrick ordered and Harold's eyes flew up in time in see a few of the terrorists leave. Dembe was still alive but he could hear shuffling in the background and a cold sweat overcame him as Aram and Liz were pushed in front of the box. He didn't know if they had managed to call in the cavalry but if they hadn't it was too late now, their last life line was gone. Harold was barely aware of what was going on now, but he did know that the gun was now pointing the back of Keen's head. He looked towards the 'box' and he could hear Reddington begging Ressler for the code again. He knew Ressler was suffering and was extremely weak but now Reddington was holding Ressler up slightly so he could see Keen. Harold could just make out the look on Resslers face. There was something there, behind the pain of his injury; there was a different sort of pain. Harold could see Keen shake her head to her partner, willing him not to give the code, to let her die if it came to it but Harold knew it was a lost cause. Never, in all his time of working with this agent, had Harold had to demand that he do his job. Did he want Keen to die? Of course not! But he couldn't stand back and let Ressler make the wrong decision and before he could stop himself, he was shouting to Ressler.

"Do not give him the code, Agent Ressler, that's an order."

He hated himself for it, he really did but this is what the job required. He listened intently to the conversation no going on between Reddington and Ressler.

"What are you gonna do? You gonna kill me? You just saved my life." Harold noticed how strained Resslers voice was, but there was fear in it now. The blonde haired agent knew his death was near.

"Circumstances have changed, Donald. If you can't save her, you're of no use whatsoever." Reddington was threatening Ressler. He was threatening to kill a federal agent because he wasn't going to save the life of another. 'It's the job' Harold kept saying to himself but he could tell there was a specific reason Reddington was choosing to threaten Ressler now. He had a connection to Keen that none of them knew of and it was because of this reason he was fighting to keep her alive. Harold could tell that Ressler was fading again because Reddington was being more forceful. "Look at me! Look at me! Agent Keen will die. Now is the time."

Time had stopped. It was in this moment that Harold realised he had underestimated how strong the partnership between Keen and Ressler was. Yes, at the beginning there had been problems, but when it came down to it, they had each other's backs, but this, this was something different. This wasn't a partnership, it wasn't a friendship, it was an unspoken something more. If he hadn't had heard the words himself, he would never have believed that Agent Donald Ressler, one of the only agents he knew that was completely by the book, had let his heart overruled his head and disobeyed a direct order.

"Romeo. The access code is Romeo."

It became clear to Harold then, Donald Ressler loved Elizabeth Keen and he would rather sacrifice himself and others to protect her.


End file.
